Drying For Freedom
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Monday, August 24, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
SIGG Bottles Now BPA Free. But What Were They Before?
By Lloyd Alter, Toronto
Treehuggger | Food & Health
A year and a half ago we asked Are Sigg Aluminum Bottles BPA Free? and our answer was inconclusive. SIGG bottles consistently tested with no detectable levels of Bisphenol A (BPA), but when we asked if their liner was made with BPA, CEO Steve Wasik told us that the liner chemistry was proprietary, and "as there are many copy-cat manufacturers in the market (most based in China) that would like to get their hands on this formula, our supplier has an agreement with SIGG to keep his formula confidential."
Now SIGG has gone public with an announcement that all of their bottles are completely BPA free, thanks to their new "EcoCare" powder-based, co-polyester coating.
But Steve Wasik now admits that bottles made previous to August, 2008 were lined with a water-based epoxy liner which contained trace amounts of BPA. Was I misled last year? When I wrote that it's Time to Pack In the Polycarbonates, was suggesting people get a SIGG instead bad advice?
One can only answer, yes and no. SIGG bottles did consistently test at "no detectable" levels for BPA, but what concentrations were the tests looking for? Scientists were suggesting that as an endocrine disruptor that mimics the female hormone estrogen, it could have an effect on people at a concentration of a few parts per trillion; the test results are in parts per billion.
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CEO Wasik alludes to the changes in perception about BPA:
The primary reason that I am writing this letter today is because I believe that the BPA conversation has changed dramatically in the last 12 months. Last year, the primary concern was that of BPA leaching from bottles. Since that time the dialogue has evolved such that now some people are concerned about the mere presence of BPA and some states are considering legislation.
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I was unhappy when I read this, essentially an acknowledgement that there was a presence of BPA; This morning I spoke with SIGG CEO Steve Wasik about it. Strictly speaking he is correct; a year ago his bottles tested at no detectable levels of BPA; now we want to know that there is none, period, used in the manufacturing process.
When I complained that there was nothing special about yet another water based epoxy lining in his earlier bottles, he disagreed and replied:
-The lining really WAS proprietary, and that is why their epoxy lining tested at zero parts per billion and the Chinese knockoffs tested at 19 parts per billion.
-they intend to be completely transparent and "have developed this special section on our website that we will be updating regularly where you can find independent laboratory testing on SIGG and other bottle brands as well as an update on the BPA situation as it continues to develop. We want our current and potential customers to have the facts."
Wasik told me that he wants to
"make sure that people continue to appreciate the quality and have confidence in the brand."
So where does that leave us?
1. SIGG bottles made prior to August, 2008 still test at "no detectable levels" of BPA. However, if that is not good enough for you and you want to discuss replacement, Steve Wasik suggests that you contact the company directly. His email address is at the bottom of his letter here.
2. SIGG bottles made since August, 2008 have a new lining that does not contain any BPA and does not use BPA in its manufacturing processes.
3. SIGG is acknowledging that there is concern about BPA at trace levels, which is a lot more than just about any other company using epoxy liners is doing. As I noted in Is There Bisphenol A In Your Home Canning?, most companies are still hiding behind the FDA standards, which almost everyone now agrees are ridiculous.
4. Notwithstanding Steve Wasik's openness and quick response, whenever I hear the word "proprietary" again I am going to run in the opposite direction. People are entitled to know what is in their stuff, what they are putting in their mouths. That is the new bottom line.
Treehuggger | Food & Health
A year and a half ago we asked Are Sigg Aluminum Bottles BPA Free? and our answer was inconclusive. SIGG bottles consistently tested with no detectable levels of Bisphenol A (BPA), but when we asked if their liner was made with BPA, CEO Steve Wasik told us that the liner chemistry was proprietary, and "as there are many copy-cat manufacturers in the market (most based in China) that would like to get their hands on this formula, our supplier has an agreement with SIGG to keep his formula confidential."
Now SIGG has gone public with an announcement that all of their bottles are completely BPA free, thanks to their new "EcoCare" powder-based, co-polyester coating.
But Steve Wasik now admits that bottles made previous to August, 2008 were lined with a water-based epoxy liner which contained trace amounts of BPA. Was I misled last year? When I wrote that it's Time to Pack In the Polycarbonates, was suggesting people get a SIGG instead bad advice?
One can only answer, yes and no. SIGG bottles did consistently test at "no detectable" levels for BPA, but what concentrations were the tests looking for? Scientists were suggesting that as an endocrine disruptor that mimics the female hormone estrogen, it could have an effect on people at a concentration of a few parts per trillion; the test results are in parts per billion.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CEO Wasik alludes to the changes in perception about BPA:
The primary reason that I am writing this letter today is because I believe that the BPA conversation has changed dramatically in the last 12 months. Last year, the primary concern was that of BPA leaching from bottles. Since that time the dialogue has evolved such that now some people are concerned about the mere presence of BPA and some states are considering legislation.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was unhappy when I read this, essentially an acknowledgement that there was a presence of BPA; This morning I spoke with SIGG CEO Steve Wasik about it. Strictly speaking he is correct; a year ago his bottles tested at no detectable levels of BPA; now we want to know that there is none, period, used in the manufacturing process.
When I complained that there was nothing special about yet another water based epoxy lining in his earlier bottles, he disagreed and replied:
-The lining really WAS proprietary, and that is why their epoxy lining tested at zero parts per billion and the Chinese knockoffs tested at 19 parts per billion.
-they intend to be completely transparent and "have developed this special section on our website that we will be updating regularly where you can find independent laboratory testing on SIGG and other bottle brands as well as an update on the BPA situation as it continues to develop. We want our current and potential customers to have the facts."
Wasik told me that he wants to
"make sure that people continue to appreciate the quality and have confidence in the brand."
So where does that leave us?
1. SIGG bottles made prior to August, 2008 still test at "no detectable levels" of BPA. However, if that is not good enough for you and you want to discuss replacement, Steve Wasik suggests that you contact the company directly. His email address is at the bottom of his letter here.
2. SIGG bottles made since August, 2008 have a new lining that does not contain any BPA and does not use BPA in its manufacturing processes.
3. SIGG is acknowledging that there is concern about BPA at trace levels, which is a lot more than just about any other company using epoxy liners is doing. As I noted in Is There Bisphenol A In Your Home Canning?, most companies are still hiding behind the FDA standards, which almost everyone now agrees are ridiculous.
4. Notwithstanding Steve Wasik's openness and quick response, whenever I hear the word "proprietary" again I am going to run in the opposite direction. People are entitled to know what is in their stuff, what they are putting in their mouths. That is the new bottom line.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Educators, Top Free Resources to Teach Your Students About Climate Change
By Matt McDermott
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Planet Green | Work & Connect
News and information about climate change is everywhere these days. Between the rapidly changing state of the science -- generally along the lines of "things are a lot worse than we thought" -- and growing numbers of vested business interests trying to deny anything is wrong, where can you go to get some good basic information to help students? Here are some good places to get an overview of the situation:
Discovery Channel - Global Warming
Normally I'd wait until the end to plug our own services, but Planet Green's parent's info on global warming is pretty comprehensive and presented in a very compelling way. It's all pegged around the Global Warming: What You Need to Know with a Tom Brokaw special, but don't let the steely eyed celebrity news anchor dissuade you, it's solid content.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Why not start at the source? The IPCC's fourth assessment report (now two years old) really lays the situation our pretty starkly. Pay no attention to claims that its predictions are alarmist -- in fact, given the huge number of people who had input on it, if anything it's not dire enough. At the Copenhagen Climate Congress this past March, the consensus of scientists there was that the worst-case trajectories of this paper were coming to pass. Check out the synthesis report from that conference for an unofficial update to the IPCC's report.
Climate Change North
This one is aimed really at educators in Canada's northern territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut) but frankly there's a lot of good info and specific lesson ideas for elementary, middle and high schoolers here that are worth checking out. Topics include (as one might expect) how polar bears and other wildlife are being affected by climate change, how climate change is likely to affect these northern regions, the impact of transportation on climate, and more.
Rainforest Action Network: Educators
The Rainforest Action Network has a growing list of lesson plans for middle and high school educators. There's a 77-page full curriculum, PDF fact sheets, and specific project areas such as a Green My School and Campus Challenge, Green My Ride, Soy What? Save the Rainforest From Giant Agribusiness, No New Coal, and Old Growth Forests.
PBS: NOW - Global Warming
PBS' NOW has a pretty extensive collection of video clips on issues related to global climate change: Renewable energy, ocean acidification, glacial melting, and coal are all covered. There's also a complete lesson plan PDF covering all the global warming basics.
More on Climate Change:
I'd be entirely remiss to not point out that Planet Green and TreeHugger both have countless posts on what changes global warming is already bringing about, what will likely happen in the future, and how we can slow or stop it:
8 Practical Reasons Why Global Warming Totally Sucks, Plus What's In It For You to Stop It
Global Fisheries Hit by Climate Change and Overfishing
Climate Change to Make the World Lazier, Study Finds
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Planet Green | Work & Connect
News and information about climate change is everywhere these days. Between the rapidly changing state of the science -- generally along the lines of "things are a lot worse than we thought" -- and growing numbers of vested business interests trying to deny anything is wrong, where can you go to get some good basic information to help students? Here are some good places to get an overview of the situation:
Discovery Channel - Global Warming
Normally I'd wait until the end to plug our own services, but Planet Green's parent's info on global warming is pretty comprehensive and presented in a very compelling way. It's all pegged around the Global Warming: What You Need to Know with a Tom Brokaw special, but don't let the steely eyed celebrity news anchor dissuade you, it's solid content.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Why not start at the source? The IPCC's fourth assessment report (now two years old) really lays the situation our pretty starkly. Pay no attention to claims that its predictions are alarmist -- in fact, given the huge number of people who had input on it, if anything it's not dire enough. At the Copenhagen Climate Congress this past March, the consensus of scientists there was that the worst-case trajectories of this paper were coming to pass. Check out the synthesis report from that conference for an unofficial update to the IPCC's report.
Climate Change North
This one is aimed really at educators in Canada's northern territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut) but frankly there's a lot of good info and specific lesson ideas for elementary, middle and high schoolers here that are worth checking out. Topics include (as one might expect) how polar bears and other wildlife are being affected by climate change, how climate change is likely to affect these northern regions, the impact of transportation on climate, and more.
Rainforest Action Network: Educators
The Rainforest Action Network has a growing list of lesson plans for middle and high school educators. There's a 77-page full curriculum, PDF fact sheets, and specific project areas such as a Green My School and Campus Challenge, Green My Ride, Soy What? Save the Rainforest From Giant Agribusiness, No New Coal, and Old Growth Forests.
PBS: NOW - Global Warming
PBS' NOW has a pretty extensive collection of video clips on issues related to global climate change: Renewable energy, ocean acidification, glacial melting, and coal are all covered. There's also a complete lesson plan PDF covering all the global warming basics.
More on Climate Change:
I'd be entirely remiss to not point out that Planet Green and TreeHugger both have countless posts on what changes global warming is already bringing about, what will likely happen in the future, and how we can slow or stop it:
8 Practical Reasons Why Global Warming Totally Sucks, Plus What's In It For You to Stop It
Global Fisheries Hit by Climate Change and Overfishing
Climate Change to Make the World Lazier, Study Finds
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Seed to Plate: Online Garden Planner Makes it Easy
by Sami Grover
Carrboro, NC, USA
Transition Culture
With the Obamas gardening at the White House, vegetable gardening seems to have hit the mainstream. But many folks are still intimidated by the whole process - what do I plant, when, how many and how do I care for them? It can all be a bit much for a newbie. (See my own experiences of gardening failures over at Planet Green!) We've already seen one UK company spring up to make life a little easier - Rocket Gardens provide 'instant gardens' by shipping vegetable starts by mail - but as we noted at the time, that's not without its own environmental footprint. A new UK-based service helps those who want to start from seed.
Seed to Plate has created an online plot planner that asks you about what you like to eat, how much space you have, and how much time - and then creates a personalized set of seeds, planting plans and grow guides - even a map for laying out your plot - and ships it all to your door. Pretty darned neat if you ask me - I wish I'd have had a service like this when I started out.
Resources:
http://www.growveg.com/ - which provides a really flexible online garden planner.
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
* Why You Should Save Seeds from Your Garden
* Gardening Tips for Maximum Economic Harvest
* In Praise of the Potato II: A Volunteer Gardener
* How to Save Tomato Seeds
* 9 Human Activities That Threaten Birds and Why We Need to Effect Change Now
* Organic Gardening 101: Be OK with Failures
Carrboro, NC, USA
Transition Culture
With the Obamas gardening at the White House, vegetable gardening seems to have hit the mainstream. But many folks are still intimidated by the whole process - what do I plant, when, how many and how do I care for them? It can all be a bit much for a newbie. (See my own experiences of gardening failures over at Planet Green!) We've already seen one UK company spring up to make life a little easier - Rocket Gardens provide 'instant gardens' by shipping vegetable starts by mail - but as we noted at the time, that's not without its own environmental footprint. A new UK-based service helps those who want to start from seed.
Seed to Plate has created an online plot planner that asks you about what you like to eat, how much space you have, and how much time - and then creates a personalized set of seeds, planting plans and grow guides - even a map for laying out your plot - and ships it all to your door. Pretty darned neat if you ask me - I wish I'd have had a service like this when I started out.
Resources:
http://www.growveg.com/ - which provides a really flexible online garden planner.
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
* Why You Should Save Seeds from Your Garden
* Gardening Tips for Maximum Economic Harvest
* In Praise of the Potato II: A Volunteer Gardener
* How to Save Tomato Seeds
* 9 Human Activities That Threaten Birds and Why We Need to Effect Change Now
* Organic Gardening 101: Be OK with Failures
How will Earth's surface temperature change in future decades?
Judith L. Lean
Space Science Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D. C., USA
David H. Rind
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, New York, USA
Geophysical Research Letters
Reliable forecasts of climate change in the immediate future are difficult, especially on regional scales, where natural climate variations may amplify or mitigate anthropogenic warming in ways that numerical models capture poorly. By decomposing recent observed surface temperatures into components associated with ENSO, volcanic and solar activity, and anthropogenic influences, we anticipate global and regional changes in the next two decades. From 2009 to 2014, projected rises in anthropogenic influences and solar irradiance will increase global surface temperature 0.15 ± 0.03°C, at a rate 50% greater than predicted by IPCC. But as a result of declining solar activity in the subsequent five years, average temperature in 2019 is only 0.03 ± 0.01°C warmer than in 2014. This lack of overall warming is analogous to the period from 2002 to 2008 when decreasing solar irradiance also countered much of the anthropogenic warming. We further illustrate how a major volcanic eruption and a super ENSO would modify our global and regional temperature projections.
Received 29 April 2009; accepted 9 July 2009; published 15 August 2009.
Citation: Lean, J. L., and D. H. Rind (2009), How will Earth's surface temperature change in future decades?, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L15708, doi:10.1029/2009GL038932.
Space Science Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D. C., USA
David H. Rind
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, New York, USA
Geophysical Research Letters
Reliable forecasts of climate change in the immediate future are difficult, especially on regional scales, where natural climate variations may amplify or mitigate anthropogenic warming in ways that numerical models capture poorly. By decomposing recent observed surface temperatures into components associated with ENSO, volcanic and solar activity, and anthropogenic influences, we anticipate global and regional changes in the next two decades. From 2009 to 2014, projected rises in anthropogenic influences and solar irradiance will increase global surface temperature 0.15 ± 0.03°C, at a rate 50% greater than predicted by IPCC. But as a result of declining solar activity in the subsequent five years, average temperature in 2019 is only 0.03 ± 0.01°C warmer than in 2014. This lack of overall warming is analogous to the period from 2002 to 2008 when decreasing solar irradiance also countered much of the anthropogenic warming. We further illustrate how a major volcanic eruption and a super ENSO would modify our global and regional temperature projections.
Received 29 April 2009; accepted 9 July 2009; published 15 August 2009.
Citation: Lean, J. L., and D. H. Rind (2009), How will Earth's surface temperature change in future decades?, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L15708, doi:10.1029/2009GL038932.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Escape of methane gas from the seabed along the West Spitsbergen continental margin
Graham K. Westbrook
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, UK
Kate E. Thatcher
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, UK
Eelco J. Rohling
National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Alexander M. Piotrowski
Godwin Laboratory for Palaeoclimate Research, Department of Earth Sciences, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK
Heiko Pälike
National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Anne H. Osborne
Bristol Isotope Group, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
Euan G. Nisbet
Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK
Tim A. Minshull
National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Mathias Lanoisellé
Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK
Rachael H. James
National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Veit Hühnerbach
National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Darryl Green
National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Rebecca E. Fisher
Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK
Anya J. Crocker
National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Anne Chabert
National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Clara Bolton
National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Agnieszka Beszczynska-Möller
Climate Sciences, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
Christian Berndt
National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences at University of Kiel (IFM-GEOMAR), Kiel, Germany
Alfred Aquilina
Organic Geochemistry Unit, Bristol Biogeochemistry Research Centre, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
Geophysical Research Letters
More than 250 plumes of gas bubbles have been discovered emanating from the seabed of the West Spitsbergen continental margin, in a depth range of 150–400 m, at and above the present upper limit of the gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ). Some of the plumes extend upward to within 50 m of the sea surface. The gas is predominantly methane. Warming of the northward-flowing West Spitsbergen current by 1°C over the last thirty years is likely to have increased the release of methane from the seabed by reducing the extent of the GHSZ, causing the liberation of methane from decomposing hydrate. If this process becomes widespread along Arctic continental margins, tens of Teragrams of methane per year could be released into the ocean.
Received 20 May 2009; accepted 30 June 2009; published 6 August 2009.
Citation: Westbrook, G. K., et al. (2009), Escape of methane gas from the seabed along the West Spitsbergen continental margin, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L15608, doi:10.1029/2009GL039191.
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, UK
Kate E. Thatcher
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, UK
Eelco J. Rohling
National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Alexander M. Piotrowski
Godwin Laboratory for Palaeoclimate Research, Department of Earth Sciences, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK
Heiko Pälike
National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Anne H. Osborne
Bristol Isotope Group, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
Euan G. Nisbet
Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK
Tim A. Minshull
National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Mathias Lanoisellé
Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK
Rachael H. James
National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Veit Hühnerbach
National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Darryl Green
National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Rebecca E. Fisher
Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK
Anya J. Crocker
National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Anne Chabert
National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Clara Bolton
National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Agnieszka Beszczynska-Möller
Climate Sciences, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
Christian Berndt
National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences at University of Kiel (IFM-GEOMAR), Kiel, Germany
Alfred Aquilina
Organic Geochemistry Unit, Bristol Biogeochemistry Research Centre, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
Geophysical Research Letters
More than 250 plumes of gas bubbles have been discovered emanating from the seabed of the West Spitsbergen continental margin, in a depth range of 150–400 m, at and above the present upper limit of the gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ). Some of the plumes extend upward to within 50 m of the sea surface. The gas is predominantly methane. Warming of the northward-flowing West Spitsbergen current by 1°C over the last thirty years is likely to have increased the release of methane from the seabed by reducing the extent of the GHSZ, causing the liberation of methane from decomposing hydrate. If this process becomes widespread along Arctic continental margins, tens of Teragrams of methane per year could be released into the ocean.
Received 20 May 2009; accepted 30 June 2009; published 6 August 2009.
Citation: Westbrook, G. K., et al. (2009), Escape of methane gas from the seabed along the West Spitsbergen continental margin, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L15608, doi:10.1029/2009GL039191.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Build a Geodesic Dome Solar Greenhouse to Grow Your Own Food
Click here to view the slide show and follow along.
Photo credit: Jim Dunn
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SLIDE 1
What do you do when you want to grow your own food, but live here? That's the question my dad wanted to answer when he started this project about a year ago: Living at 7,750 feet above sea level, with a summer growing season of 80 days, at best, between killing freezes, how can you grow your own food? The answer, as it turns out, is pretty cool: A geodesic dome solar greenhouse.
Click through to see what it's like to build one for yourself, and how the garden grows inside once you're done.
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SLIDE 2
Here's Dad's garden, prior to the greenhouse. It's on a south-facing slope, behind the house, which is good for sun, but the direct sunlight during the middle of the day caused a lot of wilting in the lettuce and spinach and such that he liked to grow there. Plus, the local elk, deer, and rabbits who frequent the backyard would also make short work of eating everything -- hence the elaborate and quasi-functional netting system over top. All of this, plus the short growing season, meant that these raised beds weren't really cutting it.
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SLIDE 3
After some research, Dad decided that a greenhouse would be a good way to extend the growing season, and that a geodesic dome would be a good shape to get the most out of the southern exposure (Bucky Fuller would probably agree) and maximize the solar energy from the 300 days of sun in Colorado. As it turns out, a company called Growing Spaces -- TreeHugger Sami spied them recently -- builds kits for just such a situation. So here's the proposed spot for the dome.
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SLIDE 4
The local Home Owners Association was quite interested in his plan, and not in a good way, unfortunately. After several rounds of proposals, some less-than-polite exchanges, and a few compromises -- the trees on the left side of the photo had to be added, to help the dome "blend in," for example -- the HOA bought it and he was allowed to break ground.
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SLIDE 5
The proposed spot is on a bit of a slope, so some excavation was required to flatten it out. The extra soil, piled off to the side, was saved to be added to the beds inside the greenhouse, upon completion.
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SLIDE 6
A layer of rodent wire goes down before the foundation, to help keep any unsavory characters from tunneling up into the warmth and potential food supply that'll soon be inside the domed walls.
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SLIDE 7
A dump truck arrived with a load of gravel that was to become the foundation for the structure. Though the domes can be built on anything from a poured concrete foundation to a flattened patch of dirt, Dad chose gravel because it was easy to move, work with, level, and it drains well.
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SLIDE 8
The laser level came out to get the foundation flat and level. As with most construction, it's important to get it level; since this is essentially a prefab kit, it's especially so: An unlevel surface would put undue stress on one part of the structure that's designed to sit on a level surface.
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SLIDE 9
With all that complete, it was time, finally, to start the actual construction. The dome from Growing Spaces comes pretty much as a prefab, so the on-site construction is sort of like an advanced version of Legos, consisting of mostly following the directions and bolting things together. Dad was able to do the outer walls, shown here, by himself.
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SLIDE 10
Now the dome is really taking shape. Bolting the dome's structure together takes four hands, for a bit, but, with some help from my mom, Dad was able to get from the leveled foundation to this skeletal structure in three days' time.
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SLIDE 11
For the first time, the dome actually looks like what it's supposed to when it's finished. This illustration highlights some of the finer points of the design.
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SLIDE 12
Dad was starting to get tired of doing all the work himself, so, thankfully, his brother and sister-in-law showed up to help put the first glazing on. This was the first part that he really couldn't do by himself.
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SLIDE 13
One of the benefits of the dome architecture is that it's extremely strong, especially considering the construction materials used. That's me up on top, helping put the finishing touches on the outside structure so it'd be weatherproof when it started to snow.
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SLIDE 14
With the outside buttoned up and ready for winter, Dad was able to start with the inside work: Building the perimeter and interior growing beds; installing the water tank for thermal mass; wiring a variety of solar gadgets and other operations needs, like the ventilation fans. Right now, though, it's mostly just a pile of stuff on the ground.
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SLIDE 15
His buddy Paul came by to help install the thermal mass water tank; at 600 gallons, it provides a substantial amount of thermal mass -- it absorbs heat during the day and radiates it out at night, keeping the interior of the greenhouse at a warmer and more constant temperature. It's on the north-facing side of the dome, beneath the shiny stuff, which is called Reflectix, a brand of aluminum-coated insulation/heat reflector that covers about 20 percent of the interior. It's an optional feature, and can just be stapled to the inside of the glazing.
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SLIDE 16
The perimeter beds go about three-quarters of the way around the interior wall of the dome -- the last quarter or so is where the thermal mass water tank sits. Dad sited it so that the perimeter beds are on the south-facing side of the dome, to best take advantage of the sun's position and solar energy.
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SLIDE 17
With the perimeter beds in, it's time to install the interior growing bed. This is a good shot of the undersoil heat pipes that live under each growing bed, helping regulate the soil temperature for optimal growing conditions. And I think he got his tools out of there first...
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SLIDE 18
Everything is installed, and it's ready for planting. This is early February, just over three months from when he broke ground. The box on the interior growing bed is the air intake for the heat pipes; a fan in the box, wired directly to a small solar panel on top of the greenhouse, blows the warm interior air down into the pipes to help keep the soil temperature up.
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SLIDE 19
In the meantime, a pretty typical Colorado winter was dumping snow outside. This photo was taken on March 28, and it would be months until he could have planted anything outside...
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SLIDE 20
...Yet the greenhouse was looking like Spring. Some spinach and chard are growing comfortably in the perimeter beds. This photo was taken on the same day as the previous slide, with all the snow outside.
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SLIDE 21
As it gets warmer, the vents on the side help regulate the temperature inside. Just like anywhere, too much heat or humidity inside the dome isn't good for growing, so these vents are an important part of the efficient growth inside the dome.
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SLIDE 22
Here's Dad's data collection setup: The data logger on top tracks temperature, humidity, and the sun's intensity, and reports it to Dad's computer; the thermometer on the bottom is a good indication of how efficient the greenhouse is -- it's not quite 48 degrees outside, but a balmy 62 inside, even before the sun gets high in the sky, at 10am.
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SLIDE 23
This data logger report shows a fairly typical day in May in the greenhouse; the blue line is relative humidity; green is light intensity; dotted black is soil temperature; and solid black is the greenhouse's interior temperature. It's easy to see how the system works together -- water as thermal mass, air vents regulating air temperature, and so forth -- to create a more optimal growing environment than the outdoors would provide by itself.
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SLIDE 24
Fast forward to June, and you can see how well it works. The greenhouse is nearly overgrown with squash, gourds, and carrots in the interior beds, and tomatoes, green beans, and a bunch of other green goodies in the perimeter beds.
The greenhouse has been working so well that it's produced way, way more food than my parents can eat themselves, so Dad makes regular deliveries to my sisters (who live nearby) and the neighbors, who are happy to be just about the only residents in town eating lettuce, spinach, and carrots that don't come from eastern Colorado or California.
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SLIDE 25
The greenhouse garden hasn't been without a few hiccups, though. Aphids and a few other pests found the bounty inside the dome earlier this Spring, and did some pretty significant damage. Not wanting to hose the plants down with pesticides, Dad called in a cavalry of ladybugs, who seemed to really appreciate the large food supply, and are now happy full-time residents.
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SLIDE 26
All in all, Dad's biggest "complaint," after a season and a half of growing, is that the plants have done too well. He's used to a marginal success rate when it comes to growing -- the animals, climate, and weather see to that -- that is not really a problem with the greenhouse. Going forward, he'll adjust when and what he plants so that it isn't quite so overgrown, so that the plants inside have a little more room to spread out.
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SLIDE 27
All in all, it's been an overwhelming success, as he plans to go from roughly 80 days of growing season to more like 10 months; he hopes to go until the end of November this year, and will plant again next year early in February.
More about growing your own food
- How to Go Green: Gardening
- Greener Gardening: Why Grow-it-Yourself Organic Food is Here to Stay and How to Get on the Bandwagon
- TreeHugger Picks: Grow Your Own Food
- Quiz: How Green is Your Garden?
Photo credit: Jim Dunn
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SLIDE 1
What do you do when you want to grow your own food, but live here? That's the question my dad wanted to answer when he started this project about a year ago: Living at 7,750 feet above sea level, with a summer growing season of 80 days, at best, between killing freezes, how can you grow your own food? The answer, as it turns out, is pretty cool: A geodesic dome solar greenhouse.
Click through to see what it's like to build one for yourself, and how the garden grows inside once you're done.
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SLIDE 2
Here's Dad's garden, prior to the greenhouse. It's on a south-facing slope, behind the house, which is good for sun, but the direct sunlight during the middle of the day caused a lot of wilting in the lettuce and spinach and such that he liked to grow there. Plus, the local elk, deer, and rabbits who frequent the backyard would also make short work of eating everything -- hence the elaborate and quasi-functional netting system over top. All of this, plus the short growing season, meant that these raised beds weren't really cutting it.
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SLIDE 3
After some research, Dad decided that a greenhouse would be a good way to extend the growing season, and that a geodesic dome would be a good shape to get the most out of the southern exposure (Bucky Fuller would probably agree) and maximize the solar energy from the 300 days of sun in Colorado. As it turns out, a company called Growing Spaces -- TreeHugger Sami spied them recently -- builds kits for just such a situation. So here's the proposed spot for the dome.
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SLIDE 4
The local Home Owners Association was quite interested in his plan, and not in a good way, unfortunately. After several rounds of proposals, some less-than-polite exchanges, and a few compromises -- the trees on the left side of the photo had to be added, to help the dome "blend in," for example -- the HOA bought it and he was allowed to break ground.
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SLIDE 5
The proposed spot is on a bit of a slope, so some excavation was required to flatten it out. The extra soil, piled off to the side, was saved to be added to the beds inside the greenhouse, upon completion.
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SLIDE 6
A layer of rodent wire goes down before the foundation, to help keep any unsavory characters from tunneling up into the warmth and potential food supply that'll soon be inside the domed walls.
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SLIDE 7
A dump truck arrived with a load of gravel that was to become the foundation for the structure. Though the domes can be built on anything from a poured concrete foundation to a flattened patch of dirt, Dad chose gravel because it was easy to move, work with, level, and it drains well.
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SLIDE 8
The laser level came out to get the foundation flat and level. As with most construction, it's important to get it level; since this is essentially a prefab kit, it's especially so: An unlevel surface would put undue stress on one part of the structure that's designed to sit on a level surface.
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SLIDE 9
With all that complete, it was time, finally, to start the actual construction. The dome from Growing Spaces comes pretty much as a prefab, so the on-site construction is sort of like an advanced version of Legos, consisting of mostly following the directions and bolting things together. Dad was able to do the outer walls, shown here, by himself.
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SLIDE 10
Now the dome is really taking shape. Bolting the dome's structure together takes four hands, for a bit, but, with some help from my mom, Dad was able to get from the leveled foundation to this skeletal structure in three days' time.
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SLIDE 11
For the first time, the dome actually looks like what it's supposed to when it's finished. This illustration highlights some of the finer points of the design.
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SLIDE 12
Dad was starting to get tired of doing all the work himself, so, thankfully, his brother and sister-in-law showed up to help put the first glazing on. This was the first part that he really couldn't do by himself.
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SLIDE 13
One of the benefits of the dome architecture is that it's extremely strong, especially considering the construction materials used. That's me up on top, helping put the finishing touches on the outside structure so it'd be weatherproof when it started to snow.
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SLIDE 14
With the outside buttoned up and ready for winter, Dad was able to start with the inside work: Building the perimeter and interior growing beds; installing the water tank for thermal mass; wiring a variety of solar gadgets and other operations needs, like the ventilation fans. Right now, though, it's mostly just a pile of stuff on the ground.
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SLIDE 15
His buddy Paul came by to help install the thermal mass water tank; at 600 gallons, it provides a substantial amount of thermal mass -- it absorbs heat during the day and radiates it out at night, keeping the interior of the greenhouse at a warmer and more constant temperature. It's on the north-facing side of the dome, beneath the shiny stuff, which is called Reflectix, a brand of aluminum-coated insulation/heat reflector that covers about 20 percent of the interior. It's an optional feature, and can just be stapled to the inside of the glazing.
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SLIDE 16
The perimeter beds go about three-quarters of the way around the interior wall of the dome -- the last quarter or so is where the thermal mass water tank sits. Dad sited it so that the perimeter beds are on the south-facing side of the dome, to best take advantage of the sun's position and solar energy.
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SLIDE 17
With the perimeter beds in, it's time to install the interior growing bed. This is a good shot of the undersoil heat pipes that live under each growing bed, helping regulate the soil temperature for optimal growing conditions. And I think he got his tools out of there first...
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SLIDE 18
Everything is installed, and it's ready for planting. This is early February, just over three months from when he broke ground. The box on the interior growing bed is the air intake for the heat pipes; a fan in the box, wired directly to a small solar panel on top of the greenhouse, blows the warm interior air down into the pipes to help keep the soil temperature up.
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SLIDE 19
In the meantime, a pretty typical Colorado winter was dumping snow outside. This photo was taken on March 28, and it would be months until he could have planted anything outside...
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SLIDE 20
...Yet the greenhouse was looking like Spring. Some spinach and chard are growing comfortably in the perimeter beds. This photo was taken on the same day as the previous slide, with all the snow outside.
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SLIDE 21
As it gets warmer, the vents on the side help regulate the temperature inside. Just like anywhere, too much heat or humidity inside the dome isn't good for growing, so these vents are an important part of the efficient growth inside the dome.
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SLIDE 22
Here's Dad's data collection setup: The data logger on top tracks temperature, humidity, and the sun's intensity, and reports it to Dad's computer; the thermometer on the bottom is a good indication of how efficient the greenhouse is -- it's not quite 48 degrees outside, but a balmy 62 inside, even before the sun gets high in the sky, at 10am.
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SLIDE 23
This data logger report shows a fairly typical day in May in the greenhouse; the blue line is relative humidity; green is light intensity; dotted black is soil temperature; and solid black is the greenhouse's interior temperature. It's easy to see how the system works together -- water as thermal mass, air vents regulating air temperature, and so forth -- to create a more optimal growing environment than the outdoors would provide by itself.
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SLIDE 24
Fast forward to June, and you can see how well it works. The greenhouse is nearly overgrown with squash, gourds, and carrots in the interior beds, and tomatoes, green beans, and a bunch of other green goodies in the perimeter beds.
The greenhouse has been working so well that it's produced way, way more food than my parents can eat themselves, so Dad makes regular deliveries to my sisters (who live nearby) and the neighbors, who are happy to be just about the only residents in town eating lettuce, spinach, and carrots that don't come from eastern Colorado or California.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SLIDE 25
The greenhouse garden hasn't been without a few hiccups, though. Aphids and a few other pests found the bounty inside the dome earlier this Spring, and did some pretty significant damage. Not wanting to hose the plants down with pesticides, Dad called in a cavalry of ladybugs, who seemed to really appreciate the large food supply, and are now happy full-time residents.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SLIDE 26
All in all, Dad's biggest "complaint," after a season and a half of growing, is that the plants have done too well. He's used to a marginal success rate when it comes to growing -- the animals, climate, and weather see to that -- that is not really a problem with the greenhouse. Going forward, he'll adjust when and what he plants so that it isn't quite so overgrown, so that the plants inside have a little more room to spread out.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SLIDE 27
All in all, it's been an overwhelming success, as he plans to go from roughly 80 days of growing season to more like 10 months; he hopes to go until the end of November this year, and will plant again next year early in February.
More about growing your own food
- How to Go Green: Gardening
- Greener Gardening: Why Grow-it-Yourself Organic Food is Here to Stay and How to Get on the Bandwagon
- TreeHugger Picks: Grow Your Own Food
- Quiz: How Green is Your Garden?
Ice-ocean processes over the continental shelf of the southern Weddell Sea, Antarctica: A review
Keith W. Nicholls
British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK
Svein Østerhus
Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Keith Makinson
British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK
Tor Gammelsrød
Geofysisk Institutt, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Department of Arctic Geophysics, University Centre in Svalbard, Longyearbyen, Norway
Eberhard Fahrbach
Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany
AGU.org
Interactions between the Southern Ocean and the Weddell Sea ice shelves are important both to the Antarctic Ice Sheet and to the production of globally significant water masses. Here we review the interaction between the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf and the shelf sea in which it floats. The continental shelf processes leading to the production of Weddell Sea deep and bottom waters from the original off-shelf source waters are discussed, and a new view is offered of the initial production of High-Salinity Shelf Water. Data from ship-based measurements at the ice front, from glaciological methods, and from measurements made within the sub–ice shelf cavity itself are used to describe the pattern of flows beneath the ice shelf. We also consider the variability observed within the cavity from tidal to interannual time scales and finish with a discussion of future research priorities in the region.
Received 8 October 2007; accepted 27 March 2009; published 22 July 2009.
Citation: Nicholls, K. W., S. Østerhus, K. Makinson, T. Gammelsrød, and E. Fahrbach (2009), Ice-ocean processes over the continental shelf of the southern Weddell Sea, Antarctica: A review, Rev. Geophys., 47, RG3003, doi:10.1029/2007RG000250.
British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK
Svein Østerhus
Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Keith Makinson
British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK
Tor Gammelsrød
Geofysisk Institutt, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Department of Arctic Geophysics, University Centre in Svalbard, Longyearbyen, Norway
Eberhard Fahrbach
Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany
AGU.org
Interactions between the Southern Ocean and the Weddell Sea ice shelves are important both to the Antarctic Ice Sheet and to the production of globally significant water masses. Here we review the interaction between the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf and the shelf sea in which it floats. The continental shelf processes leading to the production of Weddell Sea deep and bottom waters from the original off-shelf source waters are discussed, and a new view is offered of the initial production of High-Salinity Shelf Water. Data from ship-based measurements at the ice front, from glaciological methods, and from measurements made within the sub–ice shelf cavity itself are used to describe the pattern of flows beneath the ice shelf. We also consider the variability observed within the cavity from tidal to interannual time scales and finish with a discussion of future research priorities in the region.
Received 8 October 2007; accepted 27 March 2009; published 22 July 2009.
Citation: Nicholls, K. W., S. Østerhus, K. Makinson, T. Gammelsrød, and E. Fahrbach (2009), Ice-ocean processes over the continental shelf of the southern Weddell Sea, Antarctica: A review, Rev. Geophys., 47, RG3003, doi:10.1029/2007RG000250.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Is the climate warming or cooling?
David R. Easterling
National Climatic Data Center, NOAA, Asheville, North Carolina, USA
Michael F. Wehner
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA
Geophysical Research Letters
Numerous websites, blogs and articles in the media have claimed that the climate is no longer warming, and is now cooling. Here we show that periods of no trend or even cooling of the globally averaged surface air temperature are found in the last 34 years of the observed record, and in climate model simulations of the 20th and 21st century forced with increasing greenhouse gases. We show that the climate over the 21st century can and likely will produce periods of a decade or two where the globally averaged surface air temperature shows no trend or even slight cooling in the presence of longer‐term warming.
Received 18 February 2009; accepted 30 March 2009; published 25 April 2009.
Citation: Easterling, D. R., and M. F. Wehner (2009), Is the climate warming or cooling?, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L08706, doi:10.1029/2009GL037810.
National Climatic Data Center, NOAA, Asheville, North Carolina, USA
Michael F. Wehner
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA
Geophysical Research Letters
Numerous websites, blogs and articles in the media have claimed that the climate is no longer warming, and is now cooling. Here we show that periods of no trend or even cooling of the globally averaged surface air temperature are found in the last 34 years of the observed record, and in climate model simulations of the 20th and 21st century forced with increasing greenhouse gases. We show that the climate over the 21st century can and likely will produce periods of a decade or two where the globally averaged surface air temperature shows no trend or even slight cooling in the presence of longer‐term warming.
Received 18 February 2009; accepted 30 March 2009; published 25 April 2009.
Citation: Easterling, D. R., and M. F. Wehner (2009), Is the climate warming or cooling?, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L08706, doi:10.1029/2009GL037810.
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